Estrella Damm Daura | Damm S. A.

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Reviews by woemad:

3.06/5 rDev -4.7%look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

330mL bottle purchased at Huckleberry’s in Spokane for $1.59. I purchased this because I hadn’t tried it before and I had never drank a beer from Spain. According to the label on the neck, this was best before July, 2014. For what it's worth, the label is slightly different than the one pictured here. There's a little bit of English-language boilerplate about this being a "Premium Quality Lager Beer" just below the name.

Poured a just-dark-of-golden color, with a little chill haze. There was a big, bone-white fluffy head that hung around for quite a while and left lots of lace on the sides of my glass.

Ah, the smell of adjuncts. However, there’s no skunkiness, either.

Mildly grassy hops and cereal grains in the flavor. It has that generic flavor that millions the world over know as “beer flavor.” Not really much flavor to discern here, just a typical Euro lager.

Totally average mouthfeel for the style - a little watery but not to a point unusual for what kind of beer this is.

A well-made but ultimately not very interesting Euro lager. This compares favorably to some others in the style, but it’s nothing I would ever go out of my way for, or feel the need to try again.

Overall: Can't tell that this had the gluten removed at all, as it tastes like a Euro Lager should, and a better than average Euro Lager at that. However, this is not my favorite style. This makes me wonder if the gluten could be removed from other beers (say an IPA) and still retain its flavor.

Brilliant gold in color with a fingernail of eggshell white. Excellent clarity and light lacing. Heavy aroma of corn with a hint of skunkiness. The flavor is corn on the front of the palate and then a familiar well water edge from what I think is Danish lager yeast takes over. The mouth is thin and watery.

330ml bottle, one quite similar in appearance to the regular Estrella Damm. Made with barley malt (italicized on the label) and rice, with a gluten content below 3 PPM.

This beer pours a clear, pale golden yellow colour, with two fingers of foamy, frothy, and bubbly off-white head, which leaves a decent wall of craggy forest lace around the glass as it quickly settles.

It smells of sweet bready grain, with ethereal dry honey notes, a further plain rice huskiness, a bit of peppery yeast, and soft earthy, floral hops. The taste re-ups the semi-sweet grainy, bready malt, rather more barley than adjunct in nature, followed by dried apples, earthy yeast, and some mildly spicy grassy and floral hops.

The carbonation is on the low side, just a playful frothiness throughout, the body on the light side of medium weight, perhaps a tad cloying, but generally smooth. It finishes off-dry, the bready grain still doing its thing amongst the waning earthy, weedy hops.

Estrella Damm Daura is by far the best of the admittedly few low or gluten-free beers that I've yet tried. And the kicker is, it tastes better than a good lot of the regular adjunct-laden continental lagers out there too. I guess I'm ok with the Frankenbeer approach, where they make a beer with barley, but then strafe it with enzymes or something to remove the gluten - as opposed to heavily compromising, and going all the way with sorghum, or millet, or rice (Heya Budweiser!).

Pours in typical lager fashion, dirty brown with little head and obvious carbonation. Nothing really offered in the nose, not sure what that smell is but all euro lagers have it. Taste is a little more than I expected from a gluten free beer; I assume because it's not sorghum based, and therefore not overbearingly sweet. Mouthfeel is medium bodied and surprisingly refreshing. Not a beer I'd search out, but not bad for gluten free.

Clear golden color with white head. Aroma has some nice grains but also the bright vegetal/fruity character you mostly get in low alcohol beers. Taste starts grainy, slightly sweet, you definitely get the adjunct grains feel. A bit of alcohol too. Finish is balanced, you get some hops and bitterness and the aftertaste is dry. Body feels medium and well carbonated. Overall it's quite clean, without any major faults. Taking into account it's gluten free, I think it would be a good option for some people but for the regular drinker it's not something special.

Pint glass. Light straw color with a finger of head. Fair amount of bubbles visible. Looks nice.
Smells of honey, little spice and slight metallic. It smells better than most other beers in this style.
Pretty tasty too. Honey, mild bitter hops with some dryness to them, a malty sweetness to close it out. It has the slightest metallic taste in the background.
Crisp and light body with moderate carbonation.
Surprise to me. I'm enjoying this beer. By far the best Euro pale lager I've had.

Poured from a 12 OZ bottle into a pint glass,
Aroma- grassy with a rather strong alcohol aroma
Appearance- Straw yellow with a small white head.
Taste- Has a semi sweet grain flavor, not my cup of tea but not terrible
Palate- This is a light bodied brew with moderate carbonation. not terrible but there are better beers out there.